Peters v. Huttel

Background

A six-day jury trial was scheduled to begin on May 15, 2023. The remaining claims were Tyrone Peters’s Eighth Amendment excessive-use-of-force claim against Correction Officer Daniel Huttel and failure-to-intervene claims against Correction Officer Jeffrey Erns and Sergeant Duane Malark. The claims arose from an incident on November 21, 2012, while Peters was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility. Peters was representing himself.

Peters submitted an affirmation of service attaching a March 28, 2023 application for a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum. In this context, that is a request for the court to arrange for a person in custody or under supervision to attend court and testify. Peters sought to secure Timothy Scott as a witness, stating only that Scott was a material witness whose testimony was “paramount” to his case. In the alternative, Peters asked to use Scott’s deposition at trial.

According to Peters, and a search of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision incarcerated-person lookup website, Scott had been released from Wende Correctional Facility on June 5, 2019, and was on parole. Peters also stated that his efforts to contact Scott had been unsuccessful. The court noted that the parties were briefing motions in limine, and that the defendants’ opening papers sought to prevent Peters from designating Scott’s deposition for use at trial.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that it had discretion to issue a writ to require a parolee’s attendance when necessary for testimony or trial. The party requesting the writ must show that it is necessary, and the writ is an extraordinary measure that should be used only when other options are insufficient.

The court found that Peters had not made the required showing that Scott would provide material testimony. The statement that Scott was a material witness whose testimony was paramount was not enough to explain what Scott would testify about or why that testimony was material.

Rulings

The court DENIED without prejudice Peters’s writ request. The court granted Peters leave to submit a renewed application by April 20, 2023. Any renewed application had to include an affidavit describing the testimony Peters sought from Scott, explaining why the testimony was material, and describing Peters’s efforts to contact Scott.

The court RESERVED JUDGMENT on Peters’s request to designate Scott’s deposition at trial because that issue was then being briefed in the motions in limine. The order also directed the clerk to mail a copy to Peters and record service on the docket.